Sweets
by WindWisp
Summary: Riku is baking a cake, but Cloud wants to get his attention.


** A/N: Somehow these stories never turn out the way I expect them to. This one was written for a friend who thought that my previous two stories were supposed to go together (they're not, by the way. Each is its own separate entity). Anyway, I told him I would write one that sort of tied the two together in terms of relationship growth. It was supposed to have this super intense seme/uke moment, but I ended up putting that in a different story that I'm working on as a lead-in to a lemon, so yeah.**

** Anyway, since I'm on mid-semester break, I was finally able to finish this one. I still have several other stories that I'm working on in chunks, but I decided that I needed to finish at least one of them so that I could actually post it.**

** *Warning: It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!**

There was something about the kitchen that Riku found relaxing. Sure, people had teased him about his affinity for baking before, but that was only until they'd tasted one of his dark chocolate cupcakes.

Today being his day off, Riku had decided to make a spice cake, which was Cloud's favorite.

He had already put the eggs, butter, and sugar in the mixer, and was getting ready to add the dry ingredients when he heard the front door slam open, revealing a very disgruntled Cloud.

Riku looked up as the man trundled into the kitchen, tossing his gloves onto the table and sinking onto one of the stools. He'd spent the past several hours filling in for Riku, who finally had a day off, which meant fighting Heartless all day. Which he might have actually enjoyed, had not Sora been with him. He had to admit that the kid was strong, but that didn't mean he hadn't thought about bashing his head in with his sword every once in a while.

Basically, Cloud looked like shit.

Riku watched as his head fell dramatically to the table counter, looking up with tired, helpless, yet undeniably gorgeous eyes.

"Now you know what I go through every day," Riku said, turning to hide his smile. "Sora is just Sora; you know he can't help it. And even with the happy-go-lucky attitude, he's one of the best fighters here."

Cloud grunted, closing his eyes and looking for all intensive purposes as if he were about to drop dead right there on the table.

Riku's smile widened as he wiped the flour off of his hands and walked around behind Cloud. He put his arms around the man's waist and gave him a comforting hug before leaning in to murmur in his ear; "Besides, he won't be around for another week."

This made Cloud smile. He'd forgotten all about that.

Yesterday morning had brought an unexpected visit from Donald and Goofy. When the worlds had been put back to normal, no one had bothered looking for Traverse Town, as they had all assumed that it was a temporary phenomenon. But the king had been looking through his maps again and found that it had, in fact, existed before the Heartless came. The announcement of which inspired far too much excitement. Apparently, when everyone had returned to their original worlds, they had not been accompanied by their belongings, and Merlin's magic was limited in how far it could reach. Which explained why Leon was always wearing a fur-collared jacket these days; he had lost his manly wardrobe.

Everyone spent today making sure that the town could last the week without them, and then gone directly to the gummi ship from the Restoration site. But seeing as how Cloud and Riku were the only two of the bunch who had never lived in Traverse Town, they had opted to stay put, gaining an entire week of privacy while the others were on their long flight back to Traverse Town.

_A whole week of nothing but Riku_.

With that thought, Cloud turned in his seat, but was surprised when Riku took the initiative himself, lips barely brushing Cloud's as he ghosted his fingers along Cloud's neck.

_Tease_.

Cloud placed his hand on the back of Riku's head, pulling him into a legitimate kiss as the boy smirked against his lips. Unwilling to let Riku get the better of him, he moved his hands to the boy's waist, and without warning picked him up and placed him on his lap. The boy gasped, allowing Cloud to deepen the kiss, but after a few seconds, Riku pulled away.

"Cake," was all he had the breath to say, dropping back down to the floor, hiding his slight grin as he turned to finish the task from which he had been so rudely interrupted.

It took Cloud a few seconds to realize what had just happened, and when he did, he felt almost as put-out as he had before. Cake? Sure, Cloud liked cake, but right now he could think of a few things he would like more.

A thought popped into his head, and he stood up silently. Riku was standing at the sink, washing off the measuring cups as the mixer was making the batter, when all of a sudden he was grabbed from behind, a sultry voice whispering in his ear, "Well, now. That wasn't very nice. Especially when you owe me for everything I went through for you today."

Riku tried to shoot back a sarcastic answer, but just as he opened his mouth, he felt lips on his neck, a tongue trailing down to his clavicle. Yeah, talking wasn't really an option right now.

Cloud's bite to his collarbone sent Riku pressing back in ecstasy, but also shocked him back into consciousness. Before he could go back under, he reached out with his hand, grasping into the air trying to find what he needed. He lifted his head slightly for a moment, just to get his bearings, and then reached out one more time…

Got it.

Without preamble, Riku pressed the button, shooting a wide spray of cold water over his shoulder.

Riku had braced himself for the coldness that he knew would come, but Cloud was completely unprepared, and backed up with a gasp, blinking the water out of his eyes before he looked at Riku.

"What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed.

"I thought it might cool you down long enough to let me finish baking." Riku gave Cloud a sweet smile, and then turned around to grease the cake pan.

_Tch. Virgins,_ thought Cloud.

Riku was in for a surprise, however, for when he turned around after putting the cake in the oven, he was met with a face-full of icy water.

He stood for a moment, sputtering in shock, until he registered the sound of Cloud's laughter. Springing into action, he leapt toward Cloud, wrenching the sink hose from his grip and shooting water back, only this time he was the one laughing.

Ah, but Cloud would not give up. He reached out and grabbed Riku, kissing him roughly until the distraction allowed him to wrestle the hose back and shoot Riku point-blank in the face.

A few more rounds of this had them laughing and chasing each other around the kitchen, each trying to maintain possession of his precious 'water-gun.' Their hair was soaked, as were their clothes, and there was an absurd amount of water on the floor.

That said, one can only avoid physics for so long before…

_Crash_.

Riku had slipped while trying to get the hose from Cloud, and the man's attempt to save him had only landed him on the floor, too, his body cushioning Riku's fall.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked concernedly.

"Ow."

Riku couldn't help but start chuckling at Cloud's pouting tone, the chuckling eventually turning into full-blown laughter as both realized the ridiculousness of the situation. Cloud smiled, watching Riku's face as the laughter died down, leaving sparkling eyes gazing back down at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Cloud asked.

"No reason."

Cloud gave him a wry look, earning him a soft peck on the nose.

"It's just that you've changed," Riku murmured, lying down to rest his head on Cloud's chest. "Not too long ago I would have scoffed at anyone if they told me you'd been laughing, let alone chasing someone around the kitchen with a water sprayer." Riku smiled. "I'm just happy, is all."

They lay there like that for a while, Cloud stroking Riku's hair, thoughts drifting.

Riku raised his head a bit to look at Cloud, and was a bit disturbed at what he saw.

"…Cloud? Are you alright?"

Cloud's eyes snapped back into focus, looking at Riku confusedly.

"You looked almost like you were in pain," Riku said. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, love. I was just a bit lost in the past."

Riku pulled back a bit more to look Cloud straight in the eye, skepticism covering his features.

"I was just remembering things that I hadn't thought about in a while. It's nothing to worry about, so don't look like that."

Riku didn't move.

"How bad of things are we talking about?"

_Things best left forgotten_, thought Cloud.

Not receiving an answer, Riku continued. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. Just forget I ever asked, yeah? But… if it ever gets too painful… just, I'm here, okay?" Riku whispered, eyes now shining with unshed tears. "If you need me at all, I'm here. So don't feel like you have to hide anything from me, yeah? I just… if there's any way I can help… You don't have to be sad all the time, you know?"

Cloud was silent. He reached up and wiped away the single tear that had escaped, the action causing more to fall as Riku closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

"The past doesn't matter anymore," said Cloud. "The only thing important is right here – this moment." With that, he leaned up, propping himself up on one elbow, and pulled Riku into a gentle kiss.

Leaning back, he closed his eyes and laid his hand beneath his head, the other remaining laced through Riku's hair. "Gods, Riku. Why is it that I can never control myself when I'm around you?"

"What do you mean?"

Cloud sighed. "As soon as I look at you, any command I might have had over my emotions or actions dissolves. It's as if it never existed to begin with."

Riku's breath caught in his throat.

Misinterpreting the silence, Cloud re-opened his eyes. "I never said it was a bad thing. I've just never met anyone who could affect me like that. You're the only one."

Riku looked down at the hand resting on Cloud's chest. "So… what you said earlier… when you said…"

"When I said what, love?"

Riku's face turned the most adorable shade of pink.

"When you said that."

Cloud cocked his head in confusion.

"You know," Riku continued, "when you called me…"

"What? Love?"

His face flushed even darker, and he tried to turn his head away, but Cloud stopped him with a hand to his cheek.

"Riku, look at me."

After a few seconds, Riku hesitantly met his gaze.

"I love you, Riku. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I never expected to feel this way about anyone, but I can't help it; when I'm around you, I don't see anything else." Cloud guided Riku's head to his chest, softly stroking his hair. "Even when you're not there, you're all I can think about."

After several moments, Cloud was about to sit up, when –

"I love you, too."

The soft confession took him completely aback, and he put his hands on Riku's shoulders, forcing him to meet his scrutinizing gaze.

"You don't have to say that, you know. I'm not trying to rush you into anything. You don't have to requite –"

"Cloud."

"Hn?"

"I love you." Riku smiled gently before leaning his head back down to press his lips to Cloud's.

After a few minutes, he pulled away. "Cloud?"

The man looked up at him.

"I'm really cold."

It was then that Cloud realized that they had been lying, soaked, in a puddle of ice-cold water for the past several minutes. Failing to suppress a shiver, he smiled as Riku tried to push himself off of the ground, only to find himself restrained by Cloud's arms around him.

"You're not cold?" Riku asked.

"No, I can just think of a better way to warm up." Cloud smirked at Riku's confused expression before rolling over so that he was on top of Riku, drawing him into a searing kiss that immediately triggered hands fisting his shirt, trying to pull him even closer.

By the time Riku remembered to get the cake out of the oven, it was burnt to a crisp.

**Damn, that's a lot of fluff. For some reason, Cloud reminds me of Mr. Darcy in this one. I was actually going to have him tell Riku that he had 'bewitched him, body and soul,' but Cloud would never speak like that, and so it just sounded way too forced.**

**I didn't really get a chance to edit this, because I was so happy to finally be able to finish a story that I decided to put it up as-is, but I'll probably come back to polish it up soon.**

**Much love,**

**~WindWisp**


End file.
